Cohabitation - February
#2 of Cohabitation
One reason I don't do a lot of multi-chapter stories is that it's easy to run into an obstacle that can stymie the whole process. Case in point: while the rest of this story was coming together, this chapter eluded me for a good long time. I knew sort of what I wanted but not the exact way to make it happen. I'm not sure it's exactly what I was going for but it's as close as I could figure out. At some point, you just have to say "it's what we've got," and maybe I need to do that more for other longer stories I want to do.
CONTENT WARNING: This chapter has explicit sexual scenes (short and fumbling as they are), sexual harassment, and prejudice and stereotyping.
Jake considered himself a reasonably smart person. Not genius-level, maybe, but still pretty far up there. His grades had always been solid, and he was pretty sure he had at least a decent level of 'street smarts' as well. So even though the question - how do you get a fox to put out - had a much trickier answer than he ever would have expected, he had a fair degree of certainty that he could figure out the answer.
He hadn't been ready for the level of challenge that it posed by a long shot.
On the face of it, it seemed simple enough. Jake had figured out by now that subtle hints or come-ons weren't going to work - Lyle was far too resistant to just be brought around to the idea. So perhaps he had to approach it with a more traditional courtship type of thing - try to get into the fox's good graces, maybe get him a bit of exposure to the wolf's reputation, warm him to the idea that Jake was something desirable. Maybe a little more effort than he had anticipated, but he'd still get what he was looking for in the end. So he took some time to try to think up some good ways to get his foot in the door, so to speak.
It sounded good in theory. But when he started the process with Lyle, he found the fox standoffish and suspicious - not a good start. "What do you mean, what do I do?"
"Uh...I thought it was a pretty obvious question. You know, what kind of stuff do you do for fun, where do you go, what kinds of places do you like to hang out at, that sort of thing."
"Why does that matter to you? You never seemed to care about any of that before."
"Because I'm curious. I always see you hanging around here, doing nothing...well, nothing social, anyway. But there's gotta be more to you than that, maybe you're just not busy with anything right now, but there's gotta be stuff you go out to do at some point during the year or something."
Lyle rolled his eyes. "And what if there's not? Are you gonna flip out that your worldview is shattered?"
"Come on, you act like I'm gonna stalk you. If I want to talk to you I have an easier way of doing that than hunting you down."
"No, YOU come on. Not everyone likes going out places. What you've seen is what there is."
"Come on. Like, it doesn't have to be freaking club hopping or something like that. Like, I know you like gaming, don't you go to the arcade?"
Lyle stared at him. "Why would I go to an arcade when I can play pretty much any game I want to right here, without the risk of goons staring at me like they want to kidnap me?"
"Seriously? Okay, maybe some kinda gaming store? You have to get them from somewhere."
"It's called digital distribution. All the companies are doing it these days. Plus I don't have to waste space with useless game boxes."
Jake had a hard time believing he didn't go out for anything gaming-related with as much as Lyle seemed to play, but he couldn't think of any other places that they might gather. "Well...sports league, then? Bowling, golf?"
"I'm not really fond of sports, either watching or playing."
"Come on...board games? Chess? Something like that?"
"Never cared about most of those. I prefer stuff I can play on my own, or where at least I don't have to be in the same room as the other players."
Now Jake was really running low on ideas. "Jeez...like, a book club or something?"
Lyle huffed. "No. Why does it matter so much to you that I do something like this? Can't a guy be content being on his own?"
Not to THAT degree...there's being introverted and there's being a fucking HERMIT. "Like I said, it seems like you don't do anything at all. I mean, do you even go out and shop? Seems like you just get food and stuff delivered."
"I only buy from a store if I really want or need it right away. It's usually pretty easy to wait for stuff in most cases, maybe if I need it for maintenance or something I don't want to wait, but there's a lot that I can just be patient for. I only need to drive once or twice a month at most."
It all sounded crazy to Jake. From what he was hearing, Lyle basically didn't do ANYTHING. Sure, he might read and play games and stuff around the house, but that wasn't something he could leverage into a social outing to get people talking to him. He didn't even go out to buy stuff more than once in a blue moon. How could anyone be that shut in? It seemed pathological at this point, like he was an agoraphobe or something. And it was frustrating for him because it seemed like everything he was trying to think of was just another dead end. "Ugh...fine...just, never mind..." He retreated back to his room, paying no mind to Lyle staring after him slightly suspiciously. No closer to solving his problem, and finding a whole new layer of problem on top of it...
It seemed to Jake that he would have to get creative. If Lyle didn't do anything that offered him an avenue in, he'd have to come up with something that would get him in. His first idea was to get Lyle to agree to go to something with some creative persuasion. Get him expressing interest and then round him in.
Simple enough, right?
"Hey, Lyle, there's a big concert happening next week. The Flayer Lines are in Pawnea for Ascendancy Day, it's gonna be a huge event. It's an experience people always regret when they pass it up."
"Not interested. Way too crowded, and people don't respect personal space at those things. I'm not really interested in their music anyway."
"But their concerts are like no others! Even people who don't like their music love the stuff they do there, it's a whole experience!"
"Not an experience I need in my life."
Take two:
"Hey, Lyle, there's a huge convention in town this weekend. It's got all sorts of stuff revolving around video games, TV, movies, including several that I know you're really big on. It's not super expensive and there's like three whole days of activities, supposed to be tons of swag you can get."
"Ugh, I can't think of anywhere I'd want to be less. So many strangers crowding around, you have no idea what kind of people you're going to run into there. It's gonna be loud, cramped, smelly, just an all-out disaster."
"You really think it's gonna be that bad? I mean, isn't it worth it to get engaged in some of this stuff you love?"
"I'm perfectly engaged where I am, thanks."
Strike three:
"Hey, Lyle, they're having a tournament for Dynamo Clash at the convention center. Some of the real hotshots are gonna be there, and there's supposed to be a prize for the winners of the tourneys."
"Eh, I only play for fun, I'm not really going to be that good at it compared to them. And it's not like I need prizes or accolades anyway. Might as well just sit at home and enjoy myself."
"But you might be better than you think! Wouldn't it be worth challenging yourself against some of them?"
"I'd rather not put myself in any one-on-one situations with anyone I'm not familiar with. Why do you care so much anyway? Seriously, I'm fine the way I am, stop pestering me about this and that."
It left Jake even more at a loss than before. He'd even looked for stuff that might cater to the fox's razor-narrow range of interests, stuff that wasn't really his normal bailiwick but which might get Lyle out of his shell a bit. And every time, he was completely and utterly shot down, without even so much as a moment of consideration. It was unbelievable, how could someone who had the means and the freedom be so completely unwilling to indulge himself in even the most normal of events? And how was he supposed to get Lyle to be interested in him if he couldn't be interested in, well, anything?
Clearly, he needed a different approach.
"Dude, it's been six weeks. How have you still not gotten him bent over yet?"
"Would you lay off, Cayden? I didn't think it was gonna take this long, either." Jake sighed and took a long swig of his beer. "It's just...I don't know what to do. I tried to get an idea of stuff he likes, and that's just...it's like NOTHING. He plays video games and chats online and that's it! Like, who the fuck has so little life?"
"You'd think if all he did was stay home, he'd be an easy target," grunted Jerome. "Means he's always around, doesn't have anyone else, has to be pent up as shit."
"He's not! I swear, he doesn't act like he has any sexual needs at all, and he gets pissy even hearing about it! He doesn't have any sexy stuff around, unless he's hiding it so well you'd need a goddamned private eye to dig it up!"
"Maybe he's, I dunno, asexual?" suggested Xander with a hint of asperity. "We do exist, you know."
"I've never heard of an asexual fox, though," Benji chimed in.
"You'd never heard of an asexual anything before me."
Jake shook his head. "I thought about that, but...I just don't get that vibe from him the way I do from you. He seems almost like he's just...afraid of being touched or something. But how's he ever going to get NOT afraid if he doesn't know how good it feels?"
"There's always making him feeling it," Cayden suggested.
"Told you already, that's not happening. Look, there's gotta be a way to loosen him up that wouldn't outright be violating him. I just...don't know what it is. I tried offering some ideas for places that he might like to go, get out a bit and get his mood up, unwind a bit, but he just shot me down wholesale. I don't know what it is that'll get into that shell of his, but it wasn't any of that."
"You'd better figure it out fast, I don't wanna be waiting until the end of time to get me some fox tail," said Jerome gruffly.
"You had a fox two nights ago," Xander pointed out.
"Hmph...you know what I mean."
Jake ended up drinking a little bit more than intended last night, which gave him a nice hangover. However, the hangover provided him a little bit of inspiration.
Nothing loosens people up like booze. That's the great equalizer. If I can get him a bit buzzed, maybe he'll...well, at least maybe he'll talk more, if not be more interested in action. Maybe it'll be enough, I mean he's gotta be crazy repressed, any sort of break in that has to do the trick, right?
The question was how to do it. Lyle didn't keep alcohol around the house for himself - Jake bought some for himself, but Lyle had never expressed any interest so even if he did try, Jake expected to be shot down there, too. So to him, the natural next step was to try and bring him to a place that served alcohol and get him to drink. And he was pretty sure he had the idea: a bar and grill he knew that had two-for-one specials on a particular night of the week. He could order one, get Lyle to try the other, and see how that worked.
I don't have to get him all the way drunk. Just loosened up enough that he'll say something or be willing to try something. Two should be enough to get a buzz going, though he's kinda scrawny, so maybe he'll be relaxed after one. The glasses are pretty big, anyway...
Of course, the main issue was trying to get Lyle to go along with him. And as he expected, the fox was not terribly receptive to the idea. "I don't know. I don't like going out to eat - too many people see me any think they can just come up and start schmoozing with me, and I've never been one for schmoozing."
"C'mon, man. Look, you're giving me a damn good deal, the least I can do is at least treat you to a meal. This is a great place, I go there all the time!"
If anything, that seemed to make Lyle more dubious. "You seem to hang out in a lot of places that have a lot of stuff going on that I'm not big on."
"That apparently applies to EVERY PLACE IN EXISTENCE, Lyle." The fox opened his mouth, then shut it; it was a pretty rare victory for Jake, and he didn't miss the opportunity. "Look, I'm not trying to bring you to a whorehouse. It's a dinner. It's just food. You don't ever have to go back if you don't like it, but give it a shot at least."
"...Fine. I'll give it a try." Said with the most reluctance possible, but Jake would take it. "It's not going to be one of those loud and rowdy places, is it?"
"I'm not a fan of loud and rowdy bars. It's a pretty tame location, they keep it clean, and it's not usually crowded."
"Well, I guess that's something. All right...but not tonight, I'm doing a raid. Thursday would be fine."
Jake nodded, celebrating his luck - that was the day he was going to suggest, when they had their special going. "No problem. Thursday it is!" He tried not to let on how much he was celebrating internally - finally, something was going to go his way!
It so did NOT go his way.
Harrigan's was, in fact, usually as Jake described it. He had been entirely honest with Lyle about its usual nature - after all, he wanted to choose a place that wouldn't send the fox running and screaming. However, what he hadn't factored in was that Thursday was a night with a big college basketball rivalry game...one couldn't find a bar-type location that WASN'T packed with excitable and soused fans cheering on their team. And even a place that was normally pretty calm like Harrigan's wasn't exempt from this, especially with their two-for-one special going on on the same night.
Lyle knew none of this; his initial impression was that Jake didn't have a goddamned CLUE what 'loud and rowdy' was if this was considered not that.
He was very glad he had driven separately - something he had insisted on, despite being obviously inefficient. The last thing he wanted was to be reliant on Jake for transport, since he still didn't trust the wolf any farther than he could throw him. And already he was feeling duped, and wondering if he shouldn't just turn around and drive away. But he grit his teeth and decided to give Jake a chance...he needed to at least try to do that, for his own sanity.
To his credit, Jake looked pretty stunned at the sight. "What the hell is going on? It's never like this!"
"Is there anything going on tonight?"
"Not that I know of! I don't...oh, for the love of..." Jake groaned as he looked at some patrons coming out. "University jerseys...it's some sports thing, isn't it? Dammit, if I cared about those at all I might've known..."
"That matters?"
"To a lot of people, yeah. Look...let's...just try it out. It's not going to give off the best impression, but we're here."
Lyle couldn't have wanted to 'try it out' any less. This had disaster written all over it. But, if he did and could show how much he didn't like it, perhaps he could convince Jake not to pester him about it anymore. The wolf didn't seem to get why he didn't like places like this, maybe a personal example would suffice. So he took a breath and put on his most off-putting resting expression. "Fine. But if it's too much, I'm out."
And Lyle knew it wasn't going to be long before it reached that point. Inside was worse than outside - the place was packed, they were lucky to have one table available. It smelled of booze and questionable hygiene, it was loud enough to almost hurt, and too many people were getting too uncomfortably close to him. Shooting nasty looks around seemed to ward some people off, but he doubted that would work on everyone, and some might take it as a challenge, so he was careful about how he used it.
The server came fairly quickly thankfully. "Hey there, just so you know, it's pretty busy and the kitchen's a bit backed up, but we're doing our best to get things out ASAP. I'll get you menus in a second, we just have to clean them off. We've got our two-for-one going tonight, you two having the same thing?"
"Oh, yeah! That's right!" Jake's voice was suspiciously over-the-top. "Uh, let's see...East End Cider, that sounds good! And water, too, please!"
"Sure thing. Be right with you." The server went away without taking Lyle's order or even asking him if he wanted anything. That didn't make much sense to him... Wait...did Jake just order for me?
"Damn, it's so loud in here...the game looks like it's going to be over soon, though, it should clear out pretty quick after that." Jake had to lean over to be heard by Lyle. "Try to relax, it's not as bad as some places I've been...I'm not crazy about all this noise but we're still in a place with good food and drink."
"Yeah, about that...when am I gonna get an order taken?"
"Oh, something's coming for you, don't worry!"
"...That's what I'm worried about. Why did you order for me?"
"Don't worry about it! It's a two-for-one deal they have going, and it's something I think you'll like!"
"What makes you-" Lyle stopped as the server returned with the drinks and a pair of actual food menus. The drink that was set in front of Lyle looked innocuous enough...but he knew better than to trust his eyes when his nose was much more reliable. And the moment he sniffed at it, he knew what was up. "This has alcohol in it!"
"Yeah? I mean, we're at a bar and all-"
"I don't drink!"
Jake blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I don't drink," Lyle replied aggressively. "What the heck do you think I mean? It's simple! I don't like alcohol, I don't like drinking! When have you ever seen me drink?"
"Settle! I didn't realize-"
"Oh? Then why didn't you ASK?"
Jake scowled a bit. "Jeez, would you settle down? This stuff is fine, it's good and a lot of people who don't like beer like it. Give it a try, why don't you, maybe you'll enjoy it!"
"No! Dammit, I don't not drink because of the taste, it's because I don't like the thought of losing my head even a little bit! There's no one who gets targeted more than a fox who's had a couple and isn't all himself! If you had any consideration at all maybe you'd think about something like this!"
"You...what the hell is your problem? You act like the whole world is out to get you!"
"IT IS!" Lyle had had more than enough; he hopped off his chair and stormed past the confused server who had been on their way to bring the menus. He hadn't been this angry in quite some time...now he was pretty much convinced Jake had been trying to set him up, trying to get him soused so he could...who knew what he was planning to do once it happened. The only reason he wasn't telling the wolf to pack it up was the possibility that he actually didn't realize that Lyle was a complete teetotaler...though it was still very rude to try to push it on him.
As he was making for the door, a cougar who looked like he'd imbibed plenty tried to leer at him. "Lover's quarrel, foxy boy? I can make you feel really good..."
"Fuck off, you goon!" The line was delivered with such sharpness that the cougar actually lurched back in shock, and by the time he had recovered any of his wits, Lyle was already well out the door and quit of him. How glad he was that he'd driven himself, now...this had been as big a mistake as he'd feared it would be, and he'd have to pay very close attention to anything Jake said or did from now on. If he got the impression that he couldn't live with him and feel safe, that was that.
Jake was pissed. In two senses.
Okay, it hadn't gone well. He could accept that maybe his plan wasn't artfully executed...but Lyle was amazingly unreasonable. He didn't even give it a shot, and just because he was...paranoid about something happening to him that wasn't going to happen. Why was he being such a bitch about everything? He didn't go out, he was hostile to just about anything social, all he did was sit inside and drool in front of screens! At this point it was more than just the whole sex thing, Lyle gave him absolutely no means of getting to know him beyond his homebody lifestyle...if there even WAS anything to know. And if there wasn't, he wasn't sure it was a good idea for him to have anything to do with the fox, convenience or not...a thought that he'd likely walk back once he was less angry.
But he was there, and he wasn't about to leave just because Lyle did...so the two-for-one became two for him. And that was only the first...drinking away his frustrations wasn't something he'd done as much of recently, but he was at it tonight. After his fourth in quick succession, he was pretty out of it, even with some food to help soak it up. Not enough to be about to hurl, but enough to really be loopy and be staggering around as he hit the bathroom. He barely managed to stay upright as he relieved himself, barely avoiding making a mess with a less-than-stellar aim...just as he was zipping up, he heard a moan from the stall nearby that made his ears twitch. It certainly had a familiar undertone to it...
Without even pulling up his pants, he stumbled over to the stall door, which wasn't locked or even fully shut, and clumsily pushed it open. Sure enough, there was a bluebird sitting on the toilet, stroking himself, or at least he had been before the sudden interruption. He looked as bleary-eyed as Jake did, and his response the appearance of the wolf was sluggish, no motion made to cover up or hide what he was doing. Jake just gave an addled grin. "I can help you with that."
Things hazed over for a moment, and then he was deep in the bluebird's rear, the narrow stall still offering him enough movement to thrust in and out, off-pitch trills emerging from the avian's throat as Jake roughly jerked him off. He couldn't recall when or how things had gotten from his proposition to here, but he hardly cared with that tight tailhole massaging his cock. The bird was clearly experienced, hardly a shock given how shameless he had been, not even making much effort to hide his activities...
His thrusts were erratic, unsteady, not the sort of ready and familiar motions he was used to...he'd gotten a little too blitzed for that, and it wasn't his best performance. But the bluebird was probably even drunker, and if he even remembered anything about the night, it probably wouldn't be much. He'd just have to give him something to remember him by...he pounded a bit harder, already trying to get his knot inside, pretty sure that it wouldn't be anything the bird hadn't taken before. His ears twitched, trying to keep a little bit of awareness for if anyone came in, though at least the stall was locked this time.
One harder thrust sent him almost toppling over on top of the bluebird, barely catching himself before slamming him against the wall, but did serve the purpose of shoving his knot inside...moments later he was cumming hard, shooting deep into the bird, way faster than he expected to be. He tried to make up for the early finish by flogging the bird's cock harder, the breathless cries and trills getting louder and louder by the second...it felt like it took a while, still, but he eventually heard the splatter of wetness against the stall wall and the top of the TP dispenser. His grip tightened and he milked the bluebird for all he had to give, working out a plentiful amount of seed to make the mess more thorough.
Both of them panted together, and Jake's head spun a bit more. The impromptu act had him reeling a bit as he felt more wiped out...they had to clean up, but they weren't going anywhere for a while, not with Jake tied to him like he was. Hopefully no one was going to be looking for the bird, or there was going to be a party in there...there was something dissatisfying about it, though, even though he'd fucked and unloaded it didn't feel like it got him as much as his usual romp. A half-assed drunken lay just didn't do it...
When Jake woke up the next morning, he had his second hangover in a pretty short period of time. Ugh...I think I'm gonna take a break from drinking. Clearly I'm too frustrated and it's making me go further than I should.
Lyle was plenty chilly towards him, not that he expected otherwise. He made no effort to engage; whatever was wrong with the fox, he wasn't in the mood to try to resolve it now, especially not without some kind of new idea. If he was going to make any progress towards his goal, he'd need something that wouldn't get the fox angry at him, not without a fallback place to go.
He doesn't go out. He doesn't do anything with others. He's so fucking paranoid that he won't drink because he thinks he'll be attacked...what is he so scared of and should I be worried that it's something I'm gonna get caught up in? No one's this shut in without a reason for it...hell if I believe he's gonna tell me the truth, though, he's so shut off that I don't know if I can believe anything he says. How do I get him to at least talk without it turning into a mess?
No answer came to him. He'd have to spend a lot more time mulling it over.